Main content

US foreign policy in five doctrines

Justin Webb looks at how America's approach to the world has constantly changed over time.

Looking back at five big US foreign policy shifts from the Monroe doctrine in the 19th Century to the post-9/11 strategies of the Bush doctrine in the early 2000s. Justin Webb and his guests examine how America鈥檚 approach to the world has constantly changed over time, to help answer a really big question - how radical is the way President Donald Trump deals with the world? Is he really an outlier in US history? Or do his actions reflect the changing patterns of American power?

Includes extracts from Truman's address courtesy of the Harry S Truman Library and Columbia Broadcasting System, Nixon鈥檚 Silent Majority Speech courtesy of the Richard Nixon Foundation, Reagan鈥檚 State of the Union Address courtesy of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Bush鈥檚 Graduation Speech at West Point courtesy of the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

Presenter: Justin Webb
Producers: Caroline Bayley and Kirsteen Knight
Researcher: Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Jon Bithrey
Sound engineer: Tom Brignell

Available now

50 minutes

Last on

Sunday 12:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Saturday 19:06GMT
  • Sunday 09:06GMT
  • Sunday 12:06GMT